What are the things I need to consider when making a rocket that can hit the karman line?

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RocketEnthusiast101 said:
wow. Thanks for the well-detailed reply. I didn't know that launching a rocket to the Karman line would require me to shoot either from USA or Australia. I thought that as long as one has permission from the aviation authorities. One can do such a thing? Why is it only the USA or Australia?
Click to expand...

You can absolutely do this anywhere you have approval from aviation authorities. The reason you can typically only get that approval in the US or central Australia (and Aussies, please feel free to step in and correct me!) is that for this kind of shot you need an area maybe 20 miles in diameter that is completely uninhabited and is relatively far from airline travel lanes. The aviation authorities don't like having rockets land on people's houses either coming in ballistic or under parachute. There's not very many places in the world that are uninhabited in that kind of radius and who approve of/have the capacity to approve amateur high altitude rocketry. For example, the Gobi Desert in China is uninhabited, but the authorities aren't keen on amateurs going to space from their territory. Likewise, there's lots of empty desert in the Sahara, but Niger doesn't have the systems set up to make those approvals.
 
I just bet there are places in Canada. And Greenland.

Many years ago I worked for a small satellite company (both the company and the satellites were small) which had, some years before that, dabbled with getting into small space launch vehicles. I was told that at one time they were invited to perform testing at a range in northern Quebec. When they inquired about the size of this range, the fellow inviting them answered it was "about the size of Massachusetts." I do not know either if the range is still operational or if they would welcome amateurs. (Come to think of it, the weather there in Summer might be a lot nicer than at Black Rock Mesa.;))
 
boatgeek said:
You can absolutely do this anywhere you have approval from aviation authorities. The reason you can typically only get that approval in the US or central Australia (and Aussies, please feel free to step in and correct me!) is that for this kind of shot you need an area maybe 20 miles in diameter that is completely uninhabited and is relatively far from airline travel lanes. The aviation authorities don't like having rockets land on people's houses either coming in ballistic or under parachute. There's not very many places in the world that are uninhabited in that kind of radius and who approve of/have the capacity to approve amateur high altitude rocketry. For example, the Gobi Desert in China is uninhabited, but the authorities aren't keen on amateurs going to space from their territory. Likewise, there's lots of empty desert in the Sahara, but Niger doesn't have the systems set up to make those approvals.
Click to expand...
Just did some search on how much 20 miles, almost 33km, the radius will cover and damn. It covers the whole city lol. It's going to be a challenge but can be figured out.
 
Given the region of the world you are from, you ought to go with a black powder/bamboo rocket......Bang Fai to the Karman!!
Now that would be something special.

ssixsixsix
 
RocketEnthusiast101 said:
Just did some search on how much 20 miles, almost 33km, the radius will cover and damn. It covers the whole city lol. It's going to be a challenge but can be figured out.
Click to expand...

You're going to need to travel internationally for the last few launches (say >20-50K feet), but at least you have a lot of learning that you can hopefully do closer to home if your national aviation authorities are friendly. At a minimum, you're going to need to go out of the city into farmland for any significant launches (say G-H power or above). Even for an H launch, you'll need a field at least 1500 feet (0.5 km) on a side. Those tend to be hard to come by in a city! :)
 
Nytrunner said:
Does our FAA or NFPA or model rocket codes have any bearing on what the limits are in Malaysia?
Click to expand...

Not necessarily, though the NFPA limits for A-O are a decent proxy for "Will I get my rocket back?" If a national authority doesn't have existing rules, they're likely to default to someone else's (saves a risk assessment) or just saying no to the flyer.
 

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